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The Courts

RIAA Appeals Award of Attorneys' Fees 156

Posted by kdawson from the first-up-against-the-wall dept.
Fishing Expedition writes in with a story in Ars reporting that the RIAA has decided to appeal a judge's decision to award attorneys' fees to defendant Debbie Foster in Capitol Records v. Foster. If the award stands, the RIAA could find itself in trouble in numerous other cases, and they know it. Their real fear, more than the attorneys' fees, is the judge's finding that the RIAA's arguments for contributory and vicarious infringement claims in cases like this one are not viable.
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Katamari Damacy Pop Culture

Submitted by elfhec
elfhec writes: Just another way Japanese culture sneaks into the USA. Katamari Damacy is a fascinating game but the following it has gotten is more amazing to me... Commercials inspired by it, new lingo 'Katamari' for roll-up, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy Most interesting to me is the costumes and products it has inspired, star trek and star wars style, see http://lionboogy.livejournal.com/219774.html As far as products go, there are cell phone holders or ball like beanie hats, and more. http://www.etsy.com/shop_sold.php?user_id=26471
Communications

Submission + - Broadband connections and VoIP

Submitted by
voipfacts
voipfacts writes: "Choosing a Broadband Connection for VoIP

While not absolutely necessary, a broadband Internet connection is what makes your Internet phone calls reliable, and understandable. VoIP uses a traffic engineering term called Quality of Service (QoS) that refers to the implementation of controls to ensure that delay sensitive IP packets are prioritized as they flow through the pipe. To forgo these controls would result in acoustic problems like jitter and echo, as well as dropped calls. Because a broadband pipe is much larger than a dial up connection, there is much more throughput capacity, or space, to allow us to prioritize.

There are basically three ways for the residential consumer to obtain a broadband connection, from your cable television provider, your telephone company, or a wireless network. With these options becoming increasingly more wide spread, utilizing the Internet to route your phone calls has also become a viable and cost saving alternative to traditional landline telephony. Now the question becomes, which type of broadband connection is best suited for voice over Internet protocol. The Cable Modem

Since the advent of cable television, cable companies have contributed enormously to the development of the worlds Wide Area Networks (WANs), adding broadband Internet to their list of services offered. Indeed, with the development of VoIP, they have even blurred the lines of the telecommunications Industry. The cable modem, and its Coax Cable pipe, have ushered the Internet into the Jet Age with Internet service at the speed of light.

A cable company WAN consists of neighborhoods connected to nodes, each node having its allotted amount of bandwidth. The cable pipe is about the largest to be had for the residential consumer and is plenty big enough for the clearest of VoIP phone calls. However, the bigger the neighborhood grows, and the more people that connect to the pipe, the less bandwidth is available for each household. Cable companies are generally very good about distributing bandwidth and will add more nodes when necessary. Their network is, after all, their bread and butter. Just be aware that at peak traffic times, VoIP call quality can degrade. Digital Subscriber Lines

The Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, is the residential broadband solution offered by the traditional telephone companies such as AT&T, the regional bells, and others. For years the Telcos have had the upper hand in the business community, connecting their networks to the outside world via a T1 line, which is the equivalent bandwidth wise to a cable modem. DSL is somewhat slower than a cable modem, and in fact, in some communities is offered at 2 speeds. It also tends to be somewhat cheaper. Nevertheless, there is still ample bandwidth to implement VoIP successfully.

DSL is not affected by node saturation like cable networks, but it is distance sensitive. The further you are from your telephone companys local switching station, the more signal degradation you will have, and the maximum distance is 18,000 feet. Telcos can and do use remote switching stations to expand their service where they see a market opportunity.

The fatal flaw of DSL when considering the use of VoIP, is that most companies require you to subscribe to their traditional telephone service as well. Naked DSL, the unbundling of broadband and telephone service, is possible but is offered by only a few local phone companies. Perhaps because of the cable companies creeping onto their turf, and the slow but sure acceptance of VoIP in the general population, the Telcos seem to think they need to get the money where they can.

In January, the Senate reintroduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act. One of the provisions called for, is that all broadband service providers offer consumers standalone broadband service. If this Net Neutrality bill passes, DSL could prove to be a viable option for those wishing to switch to VoIP. The Wireless Networks

Wireless networks also provide ample bandwidth for VoIP telephony, and their value is most appreciated in the life of the Road Warrior. People who constantly travel, weather for business or pleasure, are finding Wi-Fi hotspots popping up everywhere. Most modern hotels have their own wireless network, and Internet cafes are becoming an international phenomenon. Travelers that find a hotspot have the choice of using their laptop and a headset to communicate over the Internet, or to use one of the many Internet Phones found on the market today.

Metropolitan Wireless Broadband networks are also proliferating nation wide. Clearwire Wireless Broadband is a company that uses a combination of Non Line of Site (NLOS) and its own proprietary technology to cover whole cities, even regions of the country. Let it be known however, that this technology has been met with mixed reviews.

If youve visited a college campus recently, you may have noticed tiny antennas sticking up from the rooftops every few meters. Campuses today have their own Wi-Fi networks, allowing students, faculty and administrators to make VoIP phone calls via their laptop, or an Internet phone, from anywhere on campus.

The Cellular Networks built by companies like Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular, have proliferated all over the world and indeed blanket most developed population areas. Cell phones have been introduced by Nokia, Samsung, and most recently the Apple iPhone, that are capable of switching (in some cases seamlessly) from a cellular network to a Wi-Fi hotspot and back. However, it is the Cellular companies that control the airwaves.

Cingular Wireless (soon to be at&t wireless) already utilizes phones with quad band and Wi-Fi support, and will be the carrier for the much anticipated Apple iPhone. While the cell phone networks seem to have been dragging their feet on implementing full support of VoIP for the consumer, there are technological issues to be considered, as well as how they will profit from the technology. After Finding the Right Broadband Connection

Once the broadband pipe has been decided upon, there is still the issue of picking a VoIP service provider. Cable companies, Telcos, and increasingly cellular companies all offer their own VoIP service to consumers, and since their service is over their own networks, they are in an excellent position to deal with Quality of Service issues.

You are not, however, under any obligation to use your broadband service provider as your VoIP service provider. Pure play VoIP providers, companies that offer only VoIP service, have grown in number, and could be said to be responsible for the low rates associated with VoIP telephony. Vonage, with around 53% of the residential VoIP market, is one pioneer in the industry that offers calling plans as low as $15 a month. SunRocket, Packet8, and the peer to peer VoIP company Skype, have calling plans for even less. Cable and Telco plans on the other hand, are bound to cost more, starting at around $35 or $40.

Whatever VoIP service provider you choose, and for whatever reason, the most important factor in determining the quality of the call is the quality of the pipe. Test your broadband connection for VoIP suitability at http://www.testyourvoip.com."
Privacy

Submission + - Millions of Voters Private Data Given Away

Submitted by
WebHostingGuy
WebHostingGuy writes: "As reported by MSNBC, voters in Chicago have had their private information (date of birth, SSN, address, etc.) given away by the Chicago Board of Elections. Apparently, the Chicago Board of Elections gave out over 100 CDs with private voter information in 2003 to campaigns. Moreover, at least six other discs have been released since 2003 containing more SSNs and it is believed that this private information is stored all over computers around the city."
Communications

Submission + - Vonage Mass Outage

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It appears that Vonage is currently having a major service outage since early this morning. For my area code and exchange in Texas, I am not able to send or receive calls. This includes both within vonage (which MAY work) and outside of the vonage network.

Their website currently states:

Some customers are presently experiencing an intermittent issue affecting their ability to make and receive calls.

Our engineers are aware of this issue and are working to resolve it as soon as possible.

Please check your web account for updates. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience in this matter.

If anyone knows more details, please post.
Supercomputing

Submission + - A trip around Germany's Leibniz supercomputer

Submitted by ukhackster
ukhackster writes: Interesting photo gallery here, showing a trip around one of Germany's supercomputers. The Leibniz Rechenzentrum is currently being upgraded to a mighty 60 teraflops of computing power. As the photos show, the supercomputer sits within a massive cube-shaped building, and has a very sci-fi appearance. The air-conditioning, for example, looks like something out of Star Wars.

Consumer companies like Apple and Nokia are often hailed as the style icons in the technology space, but it looks like the supercomputing arena is the home of some amazing design too.

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